Local questions in Stanford

Stanford University renamed Serra Mall to Jane Stanford Way in October 2019, in recognition of the harmful impacts on Native Americans of the California mission system established by the street’s namesake, the 18th century Roman Catholic missionary Father Junipero Serra. Changing the name of the pedestrian and bicycle mall was symbolic because it is also the official address of Stanford Read more...

Stanford University’s athletic teams are named the Cardinal after the teams’ main color, cardinal red. Reference to the Cardinal started around Stanford football team’s victory over Cal in the first Big Game on March 19th, 1892. Later, Stanford adopted the name Indians in 1930 along with a depiction of a native American as a mascot, often in stylized cartoon form. Read more...

KZSU is Stanford University’s radio station, broadcasting to the campus and wider Bay Area on 90.1 MHz FM and streaming online. The station broadcasts a mix of music, sports, news and public affairs programming, including live sports coverage of Stanford games and simulcasts of Palo Alto City Council meetings. Owned by the Board of Trustees of Stanford University, KZSU is Read more...

The Dish at Stanford University is a steerable radio telescope used for satellite calibrations, spacecraft command and telemetry, and radio astronomy measurements. Measuring approximately 150 feet (or 46 meters) in diameter, the steel and aluminum parabolic antenna was built in the early 1960s by the Stanford Research Institute with funding from the US Air Force to probe the scattering properties Read more...

Stanford University’s Hoover Tower observation platform is open to the public, as are the exhibits of US President Herbert Hoover and his wife Lou Henry Hoover in the tower lobby. An elevator carries visitors to the 14th floor, where there is a 48-bell carillon and the observation platform with 360-degree views out over the Stanford campus. Except during academic holidays, Read more...

Stanford University is nicknamed The Farm because it was founded by Leland and Jane Stanford on the land of their Palo Alto stock farm. When the Stanfords’ only child, Leland Stanford Junior, died of typhoid fever at the age 15 years in 1884, they established the university in his memory. The Founding Grant of Endowment from the Stanfords was issued Read more...

Stanford University has the following varsity sports teams, which compete as the Stanford Cardinal: Women's Sports Men's Sports Basketball Baseball Beach volleyball Basketball Cross country Cross country Golf Football Gymnastics Golf Lacrosse Gymnastics Rowing Soccer Soccer Swimming & diving Softball Tennis Swimming & diving Track and field Tennis Water polo Track and field Volleyball Water polo From the end of Read more...

All of Stanford’s residence halls are co-ed. In some houses, men and women live on separate floors, while in others they are on the same floor, and there are some houses that offer both options. Roth is a self-operated house on the Row and is the only all-female, non-Greek house on the Stanford campus. Read more...

Stanford University’s Hoover Tower is 285 feet (or 87 meters) tall. Read more...

The 1984 season Super Bowl XIX was played at Stanford Stadium, on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California on January 20th, 1985 between the Miami Dolphins and the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers won, defeating the Dolphins 38-16, and 49ers quarterback Joe Montana was named Super Bowl MVP. Read more...